About This Class

Welcome to Character Design Crash Course, a series of illustration classes meant for beginning cartoonists or intermediate character artists looking for a refresher.

In this class, I take you through my four-step process for designing a dynamic character, which includes coming up with a story and concept, creating rough thumbnail sketches, refining your design and finalizing the details, and finally, cleanup and color. I also talk about the fundamentals of character design, and the importance of using reference and learning from other artists.

What You'll Learn

Finding Inspiration and Learning from Other Artists:I talk about studying the styles of other artists, how it helps you build your versatility, and the importance of being influenced by more than one artist.

Using Reference: I talk about why using reference is key to improving your drawing skills and share some of the best ways to use it to benefit yourself.

Developing Your Character:from story and concept to rough sketches to more developed designs

Cleanup and Color:I share some cleanup tips for lineart, as well as a couple of different coloring/shading techniques.

What You'll Make

Once finished, you'll have a fully colored character to add to your portfolio. :D

Note: You can do everything I'm going to demonstrate in this class traditionally, but if you do want to work digitally (I use Photoshop and Procreate in this class), some beginning knowledge and experience with the digital drawing program of your choice is likely necessary. If you want to learn more advanced digital painting techniques, I have a couple of classes on Adobe Photoshop in my channel.

Hi! My name's Melissa Lee, and I'm a designer and online art teacher living in the forests of Northern California. I'm currently in the process of becoming a full-time freelancer and art licenser, but in the meantime, I've been cultivating my love of sharing what I know, and encouraging others to nourish their creative side through teaching. I love making patterns, character art, and watercolor paintings. I'm endlessly inspired by animals and nature (whether living today or extinct), ...